Failure of four bovine pericardial mitral prostheses

Abstract

The bovine pericardial valve has a long history of excellent performance in both the aortic and mitral positions, with low rates of both short-term and long-term valverelated events. In two large studies spanning 12 and 15 years, there were no reported occurrences of intraoperative structural failure. Although there are some reports in the literature of early postoperative failure, there are few reported cases of intraoperative failure of bovine pericardial valves. We present 4 instances in 3 patients from two separate institutions of intraoperative structural failure of bovine pericardial mitral bioprostheses.